Negative yields on eurozone sovereign bonds becoming new normal

Finland first nation in the region to pay negative yield on five-year debt sold at auction

By

Josie Cox and

Emese Bartha, The Wall Street Journal

February 5, 2015 1:01 p.m. GMT

As the full force of the European Central Bank’s blockbuster asset-purchase program continues to bear down on debt markets, negative yields on sovereign bonds in the region look set to become the new normal.

On Wednesday, Finland became the first nation in the region to pay a negative yield on five-year debt sold at auction, suggesting that investors are unperturbed by the country's weak economic expansion and its dependence on troubled Eastern Europe.